


The Royal Pair

by ShittyKiwi



Series: The Royal Pair [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asexual Character, Asexual Hinata Shouyou, Asexual Kozume Kenma, Asexual Relationship, Bullying, Child Abandonment, Child Neglect, Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Heavy Angst, Hurt, Hurt Hinata Shouyou, Hurt Kageyama Tobio, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Multi, Mute Hinata Shouyou, Muteness, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Panromantic hinata shouyou, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Recovery, Selectively mute Hinata shouyou, Soft Kageyama Tobio, Trauma, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:26:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26902096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShittyKiwi/pseuds/ShittyKiwi
Summary: Follow Kageyama and Hinata's journey through recovery as they form healthy relationships with those around them and with each other, learning how to open up and make peace with themselves and their pasts in the process.Kagehina childhood friends au except their parents are shitty and they end up as foster children???? And also queen of the court because hwgdkfusajdodSo basically a dumpster fire that literally nobody asked for-
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Series: The Royal Pair [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962937
Comments: 4
Kudos: 83





	1. Prologue: Introducing the Royal Pair

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Haikyuu fic and it WILL handle dark topics. This is supposed to be about overcoming trauma and healing. It will follow kagehinas journey through forming healthy relationships with their peers and with each other while making peace with their pasts (y'know, like the summary says). I hope you enjoy it!

The gym buzzed with excitement, people of all ages waiting for the game to start. This was the last game of the junior high prefecture and Kitagawa Daiichi was warming up to face a rival team, Nanakita high. They were doing drills, practicing receives and serves in pairs, their coach correcting them every so often and the players shouting, "Yes, coach!" Three highschool boys in black jackets walked over to the railing at the edge of the stands right next to a group of gossiping junior high girls in plain school uniforms to watch the game.

“Looks like they’re just getting started,” said one of the boys. He had a buzz cut and an intimidating face, and he looked bored as he watched the players warm up. “Why are we even watching some junior high tourney anyway?”

Another boy with a sturdy build and a plain face responded. “Pay attention Tanaka. These could be our competition or even teammates next year.” Buzz cut, now known as Tanaka, huffed at his captain and made a face.

The 3rd boy, who had ash blonde hair and a mole under his eye, spoke up. “Yeah, this is Kitagawa Daiichi, I heard a lot of their players go to schools like Shiratorizawa Academy or Aobajōsai Highschool. There are probably some talent scouts in the audience right now too. It’s bound to be an interesting game, I’ve heard they have 2 prodigy players that are nicknamed the king and queen of the court. A lot of people also say that they don’t work very well with their team though..."

“Even so, they’ve made it to nationals multiple times before,” Daichi says, “but I doubt they’d even be interested in Karasuno.” He thinks back to their loss in the Spring tournament and furrows his eyebrows, swearing to never let people call them the 'flightless crows' ever again.

“Then why are we even here?” Tanaka sounded exasperated. He was glad to skip class, but he just didn’t understand why they were scouting 3rd years who probably wouldn’t even attend their school.

“I wanted to see the Royal Pair play. The one with the dark hair and fringe is Kageyama Tobio, No. 2. He’s a genius setter who's also pretty good at serving and receiving; he's very well rounded. He’s the king who rules the court, and he has absolute reign over all of the players but the queen, who stands at his side. The tiny redhead is Hinata Shouyou, No. 3. He may be tiny but he can fly and has a ridiculous amount of stamina. He’s an amazing spiker and an effective middle blocker, and since people learn to watch out for him, he's also a great decoy. He’s known as the queen of the court, the only person who can match the king. He’s also versatile just like a queen in chess. But like Suga said, they don’t work well with the rest of the team at all.” Daichi explains.

Suga gave a small motherly smile. “It's better than sitting in the classes that you hate! You do have to make up your missed work when we get back though.”

“You’re a demon in disguise, Suga…” he looked distraught at the mention of make-up work.

* * *

Then the warmups end and the game officially starts. Kitagawa looks calm, collected, and focused. Their team is made up of tall, intimidating, athletic boys. Nanakita is made up of slightly shorter boys who are much less intimidating and not as well known. They look confident but also like they’re having some fun being there.

“They said he was small, but wow…” the ash blonde comments as he looks at Hinata. Kageyama was tall and lean, built for sports like volleyball and as intimidating as his teammates, but No. 3 was nearly 20 centimeters shorter than him. He had a blank facial expression and his wild orange hair made an impression on everyone, making it hard to forget where he was on the court. He was a surprising choice to put on the front lines in an offensive position like wing spiker.

“I can feel that king dude’s arrogance from all the way over here.” Tanaka said as he made his signature intimidating face.

Kitagawa movements were very ridged compared to Nanakita’s fluid teamwork, which gave the other team the push they needed to match Kitagawa’s overwhelming offensive strength almost point for point, but Nanakita underestimated the queen because they left his part of the court lightly defended. After a few minutes, the king sets for him. The ball flies quickly towards an empty part of the court, and Tanaka almost wonders if it's a fluke. The whole room is collectively holding their breath when all at once, the queen flies past in a blur of orange and the ball slams to the ground on the other side of the court with more force than anybody would’ve thought possible. Nanakita looks shocked. Kageyama’s grin has a ferocious intensity, reveling in their triumph, but Hinata’s face was unnervingly impassive for someone who had just scored an unbeatable point.

“Holy shit! Did you see that? Little No. 3 really flew! And that set, I don’t even think I could have hit that set. It was absurdly fast. This game just got interesting,” Tanaka said, grinning wildly.

“Tanaka, language!” Daichi scolds him while Suga gives him a disapproving mother-hen look.

“They would be one hell of a secret weapon for Karasuno,” he says, disregarding his Captain and Vice-Captain.

“It could be more of a liability than anything if they don't improve their teamwork…” Suga says.

Nanakita scores next when Hinata doesn’t time his block right. Kitagawa's No. 6 shoves him and glares at him, quickly regretting it when the king shoots him a withering glare and pushes past him to help the queen up.

“Yikes, you were right about them not working well together.” Tanaka says.

* * *

By the time the 3rd set was halfway through the queen was obviously fatigued. Even he couldn’t hit every toss by himself in a full game, and honestly, the highschoolers doubted that anyone could, so when the king tossed and nobody was there to hit it, they weren’t exactly surprised. Kageyama looked at Hinata with wide eyes, but when he saw how tired he looked and realized how hard he was trying to push his limits, his facial expression immediately softened. He even gave him a small smile.

The highschoolers heard the junior high girls whispering loudly. “Oh my god did you see that! The king of the court just smiled!”

“Yeah!! He’s always so nice to the queen. I heard a rumor that they’re childhood friends!”

“Ever since they played their first real tournament together in their first year of junior high they’ve been known as the royal pair, they’re so cute together!”

“But they’re so selfish! That’s why they don’t win as often as they could. Look!”

They turned their focus back to the game and saw the king glaring at his own team. Then he started yelling, “Move faster! Jump higher! If Shou can do it then why can’t you?!”

“Hinata’s just a freak! It’s not our fault that you’re both off in your own little world like the outcasts you are! Stupid, arrogant King of the Court, always ordering us 'peasants' around. Have fun being alone with that freak of nature who can’t even talk,” a boy with an unfortunately shaped head said, the rest of the team nodding along. Hinata kept his expression as emotionless as ever even as they called him a freak.

“Man, if only they could work together. With that freak quick attack and their solid defense, they could have easily won this game. Not to mention, poor No. 3 is exhausted. He’s working pretty hard out there to make up for the lack of synergy between Kageyama and the others,” Tanaka said with a sigh, rolling his head back. No. 3 was visibly panting, wiping away sweat from his face every couple of minutes but his expression was still reserved, holding almost no emotion.

“The captain and the coach aren’t doing much to reign him in. They look resigned to the situation. If those two could be worked into a strong team dynamic, they’d be unbeatable. Right now, they’re all making rookie mistakes, too focused on their differences to notice that Nanakita is slowly catching up,” Daichi added with a slight grimace.

The coach then called Kageyama to the bench, taking him out of the game with Hinata following. “Wait, did the coach take Hinata out of the game too?” Tanaka said with a confused look on his face.

“I don’t think so…” Daichi responded. They heard the junior high girls whispering again (really, they should be quieter. Is it even whispering at this point?).

“See? If one of them gets taken out of the game the other goes out with them.”

“Yeah… I heard that the queen barely even talks to anyone other than Kageyama, something about him being selectively mute? Whatever that means.”

“I have a friend who goes to school with them and she’s never seen them apart.”

“I heard that they even live together!”

The 3 Karasuno boys share a look and then watch the rest of the game play out.

* * *

In the end, Kitagawa Daiichi lost. Between the loss of their star players and lack of synergy, they just couldn't keep up.

On their way out of the gym, they saw none other than Kageyama Tobio carrying a sleepy Hinata Shouyou on his back.

“Wow, they really are close,” Suga said.

“Yeah, but he just voluntary walked off just because Kageyama got benched! Maybe he’ll only work with Kageyama. That’s so self-centered!” Tanaka looked peeved.

“They seem really codependent on each other…” Suga said looking worried.

“I’m just glad we probably won’t have to deal with those problem children next year, we’ve already got Tanaka and Noya,” Daichi sighed as Suga agreed with him. Tanaka shot him a mildly offended look.

Oh how wrong they were.


	2. Fresh Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their first day of school goes just about as badly as expected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So 2nd chapter- I'm on a roll :)  
> Uh don't be afraid to give me criticism, I need it. I wanna make a great fic for you!

Kageyama woke to a screaming alarm. He cracked his eyes open and glared at the obnoxiously loud alarm, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He turned it off as he got up to go get Hinata.

He walked through the hall of the foster home and quietly opened the door to Hinata's room, which was a few feet away from his. His shirt had risen up in his sleep, exposing the creamy skin of his stomach, toned from how often he played volleyball, and his already wild orange hair was even messier than usual. His long ginger eyelashes fluttered slowly against his pale cheeks, indicating that he was somewhere between awake and asleep. He gently woke him.

"Hey, Tobi," Hinata said, voice thick with sleep, and wrapped his arms around Kageyama's torso as he sat up. Kageyama felt his heart warm. He knew that Hinata had a hard time talking because of his past trauma and was happy that he felt comfortable enough around him to talk so easily. Hinata had been diagnosed as selectively mute when he was four years old and Kageyama was the only person who he would say more than one word to at a time. Hinata spoke to him because he trusted him and Kageyama had learned to never ask a question expecting a verbal answer, especially since when the older redhead got anxious it was like his throat closed up.

Pushing him to speak often got negative results, causing him to retreat into himself and refuse to interact with anyone, shutting himself off from the world. He prided himself on figuring out how to get through to Hinata, something his previous therapists and teachers had never been successful at.

"It's our first day of highschool. Are you excited for volleyball?" He asked. Both he and Hinata were going to join the volleyball club today and he was nervous about what kind of people he’d be playing with, hoping that they would be better than his junior high team. He never wanted to go through that ever again. He had to be better and learn from his mistakes. If Kitagawa Daiichi had taught him anything, it was that you couldn’t rely on your teammates to always be there for you. You had to be good enough to pick yourself up and keep going on your own. Hinata was the only one he could trust to be there for him no matter what.

"I'm nervous but I'm glad the principal agreed to put us in the same class. I couldn't do this without you." Hinata replied quietly. Hinata shifted slightly to get comfortable, pressing their foreheads together in an intimate embrace until Kageyama moved to rest is head down on the top of Hinata's small shoulder. Though they were incredibly close, their relationship wasn’t as easy to define at what you saw first glance. They were dependent on each other, couldn't live without the other. It was unhealthy, but they just couldn't be apart. Their foster mother always tried to encourage Kageyama to do things with other kids at school and tell Hinata to make his own friends, but she didn’t understand them. No one did. He couldn’t even find the right words to explain to her how lost he felt when Hinata wasn’t nearby.

Every time Hinata hit one of his 'impossible' sets, pulling off their quick attack, he felt invincible, like nothing could hurt him ever again. Kageyama’s heart fluttered every time he glimpsed the rare and fleeting smiles from Hinata. He was vengeful and upset when Hinata was sad or otherwise bothered in any way, ready to find whoever hurt his precious partner and make them pay for it, and he hated seeing the small boy cry more than anything. He always tried his best to make things better when Hinata was scared or hurt.

Kageyama didn’t know if that was love that went deeper than friendship, having never felt love for anyone else, but he did know that Hinata was the most important person to him, and he didn’t need anyone else so long as they were together. In his mind, that was all he needed to know.

Kageyama smiled. "Let's get dressed and see if Yuuki-san can drive us." Yuuki-san's their foster mother and her husband is Sato-san. They haven't been adopted yet but they're grateful to her for giving them a place to stay and treating them kindly. It's a good change from how it used to be.

They had insisted they stay together no matter what. Sometimes their foster parents worried about their codependence but Kageyama had told them that being together gave them the comfort and peace that they had been deprived of when they were with their parents. They ended up giving in and letting the boys continue their unhealthy behavior, unsure of how to deal with it.

Hinata eventually let go of Kageyama who made his way back to his own room. Then Hinata started to frantically run around his bedroom, double and triple checking to make sure he had everything he needed for school. Kageyama yelled from down the hall that they needed to be ready to leave in 15 minutes or else they would be late on their first day. He had to make sure that he had his black and orange Karasuno track suit, his plain black gym shorts and a white t-shirt, and his brand-new indoor shoes that he would put in his shoe locker at Karasuno High all packed in his gym bag.

“Shouyou!" Kageyama entered his room to see Hinata running around his room checking again to make sure he had everything. "Hey, calm down, you've got everything." He checked his bags one more time and then nodded to himself in confirmation.

He rushed out of the room, his bookbag accidentally knocking into his trophy case. His youth volleyball trophies and medals wobbled precariously but he made sure they stayed standing and steady before leaving. On the way out, he grabbed his good luck charm. It was an old gift from Kageyama that he had been given when they were kids, and he always held onto it. He attached it to his bag carefully before running out the door and down the stairs with Kageyama to where Yuuki-san was patiently waiting for them.

* * *

Despite their late start, they got to school on time for registration. Kageyama waited for Hinata to grab his gym bag from the car and they both went inside the front entrance, bags slung over their shoulders.

As they changed shoes and headed to the assembly hall for the opening speeches, they passed numerous booths full of students trying to convince them to join all of the different clubs that the school offered. Without hesitation, they both skipped over all the others in favor for the sport they had both fallen in love with, stopping by the volleyball table to fill out the club sign-up forms. There were two second years manning the booth, one tall with a buzz cut and one short with partly died hair. They hardly paid them any attention since they were already interested and they needed to attract those who weren’t yet.

Once that was done, they had just enough time to head over to the large central assembly hall where they sat in the hard plastic chairs and listened to the principal's cookie-cutter welcoming speech. Hinata clung to his arm in a sort of half hug. He had a vacant expression on his face but Kageyama knew better. His hands were clenched tightly into small, shaking fists and he kept his eyes glued to the ground, studying the tile floor. Both were signs that Hinata was nervous and anxious because of his new surroundings. Kageyama stayed close by just in case. He didn’t like some of the looks that the other kids were giving them, but he didn’t want to start anything when they were out in the public like this.

“I hope you guys all have a wonderful school year and that you all study hard to make us proud. Welcome to Karasuno High School,” the principal finished with a flourish and then stepped down from the podium. Chatter and laughter filled the air as the students went about their own business, some still giving them strange looks. He glared back at them and led Hinata back to the main hall, trying to escape the crowds.

* * *

By the time Hinata was calmed down sufficiently, the warning bell rang, telling them that class was about to start. Kageyama hiked his bookbag up his shoulder and, knowing that Hinata needed the encouragement, grabbed a hold of his hand as they walked up the stairs to the third floor, uncaring of the looks that they got from their classmates. Hinata’s hand was small and fit seamlessly in his larger one. He had to fight a sudden blush when he thought of how perfect it was.

They both made their way to class 1-2, sticking together and ignoring the other students' gossiping. Kageyama slid the door to the class open and shot a nasty glare at anyone who looked their way, letting Hinata in first. They took two desks that were next to each other in the 3rd row, one next to the window.

They sat quietly while the other kids continued to chat loudly all around him in their friend groups. Thankfully, he didn’t recognize anyone from middle school and no one seemed to pay him any special attention. That is, until the teacher was calling out names for roll call. When she got to his name, Hinata simply raised his hand, hoping that no one would notice his lack of speech.

But just his luck, the teacher wasn’t looking at him, instead she was staring down at the seating chart, unable to see his raised hand. He clenched his other hand into a tight fist on his lap, feeling his chest start to tighten in panic and his lungs restrict. His tongue was thick and heavy in his mouth, and his throat closed up, stopping any words from escaping. It wouldn't work no matter how hard he tried to force himself to say something, anything. "He's here." Kageyama spoke up after what felt like hours but was probably only a few seconds.

“Oh yes! I’m sorry Hinata. I got an email from the principal explaining your condition this morning. I won’t forget again,” she said with a kind smile, the skin around her eyes crinkling and her dimples showing. She was a middle-aged Japanese woman who was stocky with round hips. Her dark black hair was tied up in a messy bun, flyway’s hanging down from her round face and framing her chocolate brown eyes.

He flushed deep red in embarrassment at being singled out in front of the class like that. A blonde boy with glasses snickered (he could've sworn he heard a "Tsukki!!") while the rest of the room looked at him in confusion, whispering and wondering why Hinata refused to say anything when he was called. He wished he could convince them all that it was just as simple as not wanting to say anything, wished he were able to pass it off as a peculiar quirk. It would have been easier to say that he was of those people who were aloof and antisocial, but here he was, wishing the Earth would swallow him whole.

“Class, settle down,” their teacher admonished and then smiled at Hinata, who had buried his head in his arms, trying to make himself smaller as Kageyama glared at the snickering student. He felt tears well up in his eyes but didn't let them fall, not wanting to give them any more reason to stare at him and tease him.

“Now, Hinata-kun is very special so you probably won’t hear him talk much, but please be kind and patient with him. He might open up to you if you give him a chance,” she said in a cheerful tone. Hinata just wished she would stop talking and move on, practically wilting as a few boys in the back made faces at the word “special,” laughing and high-fiving each other.

“Alright, that’s enough.” The teacher called for order, trying to sound stern, but her soft voice didn’t really help. “Let’s get back to roll call,” she said and then continued onto the next name on the list.

The rest of class was tolerable, and his next teacher was much more prepared when they rotated classes, avoiding calling on him in class. They’d probably try getting him to speak later in the year, when they assumed he was feeling more comfortable. He could still feel the eyes of everyone in the room, staring and whispering about him behind his back as if couldn’t hear them.

This was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna make chapters longer but I don't know how :')


	3. Volleyball, Commence!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama and Hinata make it through classes and volleyball tryouts. Their second day is even shittier and the team mom and dad see just how volleyball obsessed they really are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Owgsjdodhw I'm sorry this sucks and thanks for reading anyway all 73 of you. Thank you so so much for your nice comments too! Reading them made me really happy. 
> 
> Also, I have school and my poor 8th grade brain can barely handle my college prep classes, so I probably won't update during the week. Plus I have therapy weekly with my 2nd therapist and PSATs on Wednesday so this week is even more hectic than usual. Super sorry! 
> 
> Oh, and like I said, I'm begging you for criticism, I want to improve and be more confident with my writing. Thank you lovlies <3

Classes were finally, finally over and Kageyama made his way to the gym with Hinata, stopping at the vending machines to get strawberry milk along the way. As soon as they entered the gym, all eyes focused on them. A lot of them seemed shocked, and one of them seemed oddly annoyed. Two people walked up to them.

"Are you really the new first years?" One of them asked.

The second one smacked the back of his head lightly. "Daichi, that's rude! Don't mind him. I'm Sugawara Koushi, but you can just call me Suga. I'm the vice captain and Daichi is the captain."

At that, Daichi seemed to snap out of it. "Oh, uh, sorry. I'm Sawamura Daichi, but everyone just calls me Daichi."

"I'm Kageyama and this is Hinata. We're here for tryouts." He kept his expression cold and his words short, not bothering with formalities.

"We know, your majesties." A blonde boy smirked. It was the same asshole from their class earlier that snickered at Hinata. Kageyama flinched at the name and Hinata glared venomously at the blonde, tightening his grip on Kageyama's arm.

"Tsukki! That's not nice." A timid looking green haired boy scolded him.

He scoffed. "Shut up Yamaguchi."

"Sorry Tsukki." The green haired boy walked over to Hinata, not looking sorry in the slightest. "I noticed you didn't speak in class earlier. Do you, by any chance, know JSL...? Sorry if I'm jumping to conclusions!" He sounded unsure of himself.

Hinata gave a small nod and signed 'yes', unlinking his arm from Kageyama's but still standing just as close to him.

Yamaguchi smiled at him reassuringly, dimples dotting his freckled cheeks. 'I learned JSL too during middle school. I had a hard time talking when my anxiety got bad so I decided that being able to sign would be convenient! Guess it turned out to be pretty useful!'

Hinata looked pleasantly surprised. Well, to Kageyama he did. To everyone else he probably looked at impassive and reserved as ever. 'I learned when I was 4. Tobio knows it too,' he signed back with slightly trembling hands.

'Ah, that's pretty cool! Well, I'll talk to you later! It was nice meeting you,' he smiled at Hinata, making sure that he kept the conversation short as to not make the anxious redhead uncomfortable, and went back to stand next to Tsukki. Kageyama laced his fingers with Hinata's as the Captain started talking.

"Today we'll be doing a 3 on 3 match with the first years. Tanaka, join Hinata and Tsukishima's team. I'll join Kageyama and Yamaguchi." At that, Hinata almost seemed to get physically smaller. He tightened his grip on Kageyama, expression never changing. "We need to get out of our comfort zones and play with people we haven't played with before to establish effective teamwork," he explained. Although it made sense, it didn't make Hinata feel any better.

Hinata reluctantly let go of Kageyama's hand, walking to his part of the court. Kageyama followed suit. Once everyone was in place, the match started.

Takeda,their supervisor, blew the whistle to start the game and Hinata's team won the coin toss. Tanaka was serving the ball first with a standard overhanded serve. It went high and arched cleanly over the net, only to be saved by Daichi. He dug it back to Kageyama, who set it to Yamaguchi, but the ball was blocked by Tsukishima and Hinata's defense, giving Hinata's team the first point.

Kageyama's team scored next, taking advantage of an opening between Hinata and Tsukishima. Tsukishima was tall enough to easy block the spike but Hinata didn’t jump fast enough to keep up, leaving a glaring opening to exploit. Tsukishima scowled at his smaller teammate for messing up his timing, huffing in annoyance. Sugawara couldn’t tell from this far but little Hinata appeared shaken at his teammates scorn.

Their plays continued and neither team was pushing offensively, both staying on the defense. A boring strategy, in Suga's humble opinion. “They are certainly playing it safe,” Sugawara commented with a frown. Neither was giving up the lead though, each side playing a very different strategy.

“They’re probably trying to figure out each other’s strengths before they go on the attack,” Ennoshita commented from the sidelines. Right as he said that, Tanaka spiked past their defense, scoring Hinata's team a point.

* * *

From that point on, the teams were more offensive, keeping up point for point, though in the end, Hinata's team won 25-23 because of their pure offensive power. It was a close call.

As soon as the match was over Hinata and Kageyama laced their fingers together again. "All right, today was a short practice because of tryouts. Kinoshita and Ennoshita are on cleaning duty, everyone get changed." Daichi turned to the first years and smiled. "Welcome to the team."

Everyone filed into the clubroom, and everyone but Hinata and Kageyama started changing their clothes. Some people shot them questioning glances and decided it was none of their business, and the rest didn't even question it. The two boys were grateful even if they'd never say so.

* * *

Kageyama and Hinata walked home together with their hands interlocking. "I'm sorry about class this morning," Kageyama said.

"It's okay.. I wasn't exactly surprised," Hinata said, his voice scratchy and meek. "I knew that expecting everything to work perfectly would just be hoping beyond hope."

"Oi, don't talk like that boke."

"It's true though. The only person who was nice to me today was Yamaguchi. It's just so frustrating knowing that no matter how hard I try I just can't get my voice to work around anyone but you...! No matter how many people I try to explain it to, they don't understand...they all just jump to conclusions. Nobody understands us, Tobio..."

"I'm okay with that. The only one I need is you. You're my everything. Nobody else is trustworthy enough, nobody will ever truly understand... We're better off without them, better off staying in our own little bubble forever...our foster parents are wrong. We don't need friends. We don't!"

"Yeah, you're right. They don't understand. No matter how hard we try. Let's stay like this. I love you Tobio. I adore you." Hinata smiled and Kageyama smiled back.

* * *

The next day at school was somehow even worse. During their first break between classes, Kageyama had been called over to talk to the teacher so Hinata was left all alone.

The girl sitting next to him turned to face him reluctantly. She hesitated and the girl behind her nudged her shoulder to motivate her.

“...Hinata, right?” She asked and he nodded, avoiding eye contact with her, much preferring to stare at his shoes or study the sleeves of his gakuran.

“Are you deaf or something? Normally, they’d give you an interpreter, but I didn’t see one today,” she continued as if his silence was completely normal and totally not a sign of his discomfort, and he shook his head at her question. Really, the question was rather silly in the first place since, if he had been deaf, he wouldn’t have been able to hear her question in the first place. Not every deaf person knew how to read lips. He did, just because it made life easier for him, but he knew plenty of deaf people in the specialty language classes he took growing up that didn’t.

“No, you’re not deaf?” she asked confused and another girl next to her giggled.

He shook his head again, and merely pointed to his mouth hoping she could infer what he was trying to say. Telling people he was mute was the easiest answer. He didn’t usually want to explain the selective part, since it only seemed to confuse people. If he had the ability to speak, why didn’t he? Those who didn’t want to understand usually just came to the misguided conclusion that he was just faking it or being stubborn. Hinata didn’t even have the answer for why he didn't speak himself, so how could he properly explain it to anyone else?

“Oh, well I guess…” she trailed off, looking embarrassed and confused at his response. He was sure she was wondering why she had even bothered.

She was saved from finishing her awkward response by the teacher arriving for their next class.

* * *

When it was time for lunch, he practically bolted from the room, huddling underneath the stairwell. He was shaking madly, his breathing hitching as he sucked in large breaths of air, unable to release it properly.

“Shouyou!” he heard Kageyama shout for him, sounding worried. He wanted to feel guilty for causing Kageyama to worry and have to look for him, but he’d always felt safer in closed, compact spaces. As far as he could remember, he’d never been afraid of the dark, which helped him find more places to hide when he was feeling nervous. He was still shaking when Kageyama found him.

Kageyama cursed underneath his breath and pulled him into a hug. One arm wrapped around Hinata’s waist and the other held the back of his head, ducking low to pull him even closer into his chest, hoping it would help him settle down. It had been a while since he’d seen him this upset, but he didn’t say anything, knowing that it wasn’t what Hinata needed. There was nothing he could do or say at the moment that would make him feel better and touch had had always seemed to work better than words when it got this bad.

With Kageyama’s help, Hinata slowly calmed down. Hinata was just tall enough that his head rested right on Kageyama’s chest. He was lulled by the steady 'thump, thump, thump' of his heartbeat, comforted by his strong arms around him and the fingers curled in his hair. He used the familiar beat to center himself, closing his eyes as his breathing evened out.

“Are you okay?” Kageyama finally asked when he was sure Hinata was aware enough to understand him. Hinata nodded, his head moving against Kageyama’s chest.

“I’m sorry.” He promised himself to do better, to try and help more. Trying to ignore the gaping pit of dread in his stomach that worried he wouldn’t be able to fix Hinata, the one that appeared every time his Shouyou got like this, he just repeated his words. "I'm so sorry."

“Not your fault,” the words were soft and quiet, muffled against Kageyama’s gakuran, but Kageyama treasured them anyway.

“Mhn,” he mumbled under his breath with a sigh, unable to fully believe it, but not wanting to argue with Hinata when he was in this state.

The bell rang, warning them to get back to class, and Kageyama felt Hinata tense up in his arms. He hadn’t realized how long they’d been standing there but he couldn’t make himself force Shouyou to go back to class.

Instead, he dragged Hinata to the gym that they used for volleyball, which was currently empty as gym class was typically held in the basketball team's gym unless there was a big game there.

Kageyama started setting up the net as Hinata wheeled the cart of volleyballs out of the storage closet, wondering why there was a broken broom there. Then, they started. Toss, spike, repeat. Toss, spike, repeat. They kept going until Hinata was panting and covered in sweat and Kageyama's arms were sore.

When Hinata got anxious, he liked nothing more than to throw himself into volleyball until he felt like passing out, and Kageyama was the same. It was almost like a way of coping, and before they knew it, more than 3 hours had passed. Actual practice would be starting very soon.

As if summoned by the very thought, the captain and vice captain walked into the gym. They immediately paused their chatter as they saw the equipment set up and the royal pair nearly passed out on the floor. Suga sighed and Daichi looked livid. These dumbasses really were problem children.

This was going to be a long year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah I hate this my writing sucks  
> ✨self-deprecation✨💞💞  
> Uhm, just jumping in to say that Kageyama and Hinata's relationship as shown in this story IS NOT HEALTHY. This is an example of how they enable each other and feed their codependence. It's not a stable relationship and when you base your whole life on the people around you, it DOES NOT END WELL. Trust me on that one.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, that's one chapter down. Next one? Whenever I feel like it. If you want someone with a consistent posting schedule, it isn't me :)


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